April 29, 2020 PURIFY YOURSLVES
1 Corinthian 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lust which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.”
One of the most common and one of the most damaging concepts we hear from well-meaning believers is that ‘It’s all up to God,’ or ‘God has to change me,’ or ‘I’m waiting on the Spirit to move,’ ‘Or that’s just the way God made me-that’s just the way I am.’ But the most ‘unscriptural’ viewpoint I have heard expressed from other believers is that ‘It does not matter what we do-it’s all about the grace of God-God loves us as are.’ It is true that God is sovereign and that it is only by the power of the Spirit that we can live the Christian life, and that He loves us no matter what we do-but there’s more. All of these statements, or viewpoints, sound reasonable and are easy to buy into as being true. The big problem is that they are in conflict with the clear teaching of the scriptures. These various viewpoints that I believe are in conflict with the scriptures are likely based on a misunderstanding of grace; misunderstanding grace can give us an excuse and a justification for our actions. The truth is that God places on us much responsibility in the implementation, or putting into action the instructions of His word. Again, it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can walk according to the Spirit. We are to be co-labors in working with God as He works in us; this call to be co-labors is an important truth we must not miss or neglect if we are to be being transformed into His image. We are not like robots or subjects waiting to be told what to do; we are in partnership with God as He works out His purposes in and through us. From the verses above, we see that we must be about purifying or cleansing ourselves ‘from all defilement of flesh and spirit’ and ‘perfecting holiness.’ These instructions are not difficult to understand. Simply put, if and when we find that some things we do, or some thoughts we have are not pleasing to the Lord and or in conflict with God’s word, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can lay it aside-I stop doing it-we make a spiritual adjustment. You may be thinking that that is too simple-but I assure you, that’s the way it works. This is not just a mechanical process; the foundation for all of this is that of having a heart to be like Him and to be pleasing Him in thought and action, in all we do. Note that in 1 Peter 1:14-15 we are told ‘not to be conformed to the former lust;’ in other words, we have now been made new and we are not who we use to be and our life now is to be different from what it was before. Before we came to know Christ as Savior, suppose we were in the habit of lying for example, but now we speak truth, etc. The good news is that purifying ourselves and to be perfecting holiness is not difficult, but brings about an inner joy and peace, not only to us, but to those around us-it leads to life. Let us start this very day to be about purifying ourselves and perfecting holiness-to do so pleases our Father and blesses us.
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light,”
Blessings, Buddy
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